Contemporary stage giant returns to O.C.

The acclaimed American playwright Donald Margulies will be in Orange County for the Friday night opening of South Coast Repertory's revival of "Sight Unseen," his SCR-commissioned play that earned him the first of three Pulitzer Prize nominations for Drama.

On Saturday afternoon, following his appearance at SCR, Margulies will go to Chapman University in Orange to give a free talk about writing for both the stage and screen, SCR officials announced in a news release.

"Sight Unseen" premiered at the Costa Mesa venue in 1991, earning Margulies an off-Broadway OBIE Award after the production went to New York, as well as a finalist nod for the 1992 Pulitzer.

During its long association with Margulies, SCR has commissioned and premiered four of his plays.

These consist of his 1996 play "Collected Stories," which won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer for Drama; 2004's "Brooklyn Boy; and 2007's "Shipwrecked!"

"Dinner with Friends," the play that earned Margulies the Pulitzer in 2000, made its West Coast premiere at South Coast Rep but originally was commissioned by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, while Marc Masterson — who is now SCR's artistic director — was in charge of that Kentucky playhouse.

At 3 p.m. Saturday, Margulies, an English professor at Yale University, is scheduled to speak in the Doy and Dee Henley Reading Room at Chapman's Leatherby Libraries. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

During his lecture, Margulies will pause from time to time as actors Kandis Chappell and Bill Brochtrup, SCR regulars, read excerpts from the playwright's three Pulitzer-nominated plays.

Dave Emmes, one of SCR's two co-founding artistic directors, will direct "Sight Unseen," which will run through April 1.

For tickets for "Sight Unseen," go to http://www.scr.org, or call (714) 708-5555. South Coast Repertory is at 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.